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Prejudice in Brazil

April 12, 1983
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Jews rank second only to homosexuals on a scale of prejudices held by Brazilians according to a recent poll conducted in 40 cities. Prejudice against women was third.

The poll, conducted by Sao Paulo psychologist Jacobo Pinheiro Goldberg and a staff of 20 aides, measured prejudicial attitudes in terms of “inferior” and “superior.” It found that 33.7 percent of the respondents considered homosexuals “inferior”, 12.7 percent thought Jews “inferior” and 7.5 percent believed women are “inferior.” Negroes were considered “inferior” by 6.3 percent.

The poll found that while 8.4 percent of the respondents regard Jews as “superior”, 68.4 percent consider them “equal” and 10.4 percent had no opinion, Goldberg reported that a considerable number of respondents; offered unsolicited qualifications to the pollsters. He said a respondent who agreed that Jews were “superior” had added, “but in the bad sense”, and another, after affirming that Jews were “equal,” said “Yes, but all of them should have been killed.”

The poll found that the most educated persons were the least prejudiced and that women were less prejudiced than men.

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